UNFPA, the agency specializing in reproductive and maternal health worldwide, is working with 12 partners on the ground to distribute dignity kits, which contain sanitary pads, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and towels. These items are helping women and girls maintain their personal hygiene even amid the destruction and displacement. This is essential, community members have emphasized. “Just like I would want… Read More

The outbreak in Equateur Province emerged in early June and has now spread into another of its 17 health zones, bringing the total number of affected zones to 12. So far, there have been 113 cases and 48 deaths.   “The most recently affected area, Bomongo, is the second affected health zone that borders the Republic of Congo, which heightens the… Read More

Following a virtual meeting on Thursday, they pledged to advocate for the $35 billion still required for the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, to realize the goal of producing two billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests.   “We acknowledge the urgency of catalysing a step-change in political support and financing for the ACT-Accelerator in order to enable… Read More

Citing “recent studies”, WHO revealed that sepsis kills 11 million people each year, many of them children, and disables millions of others.“The world must urgently step up efforts to improve data about sepsis so all countries can detect and treat this terrible condition in time,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.  Improved data needed Against the backdrop that most studies… Read More

The study by UNAIDS, the UN agency working to stamp out HIV and AIDS, outlines how the world can leverage and build resilient health systems that address both pandemics.  A new report by UNAIDS examines how the experience of tackling HIV can help inform and guide effective, efficient, people-centred and sustainable #COVID19 responses. — UNAIDS (@UNAIDS) September 9, 2020 “Our… Read More

United in Science 2020, released on Wednesday, highlights the increasing and irreversible impacts of climate change on glaciers, oceans, nature, economies and it’s cost on people across the globe; manifest more and more often through disasters such as record heatwaves, wildfires, droughts and floods. Speaking at the launch of the report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that there is “no time… Read More

The number of global under-five deaths dropped to its lowest point on record in 2019 – down to 5.2 million, from 12.5 million in 1990. However, there are fears the numbers could rise on back of COVID-induced disruptions to child and maternal health services, new estimates released on Wednesday, indicate.  Services experiencing disruptions include health checkups, vaccinations, and prenatal and… Read More

Speaking at an in-person meeting in the Assembly hall, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande recounted some of the important initiatives the 74th session had conducted throughout the coronavirus pandemic. “The General Assembly successfully organized socially distanced elections for the General Assembly Presidency, the Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Furthermore, we employed virtual methods to gather stakeholders from around the… Read More

“COVID-19 is teaching all of us many lessons,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said at a media briefing in Geneva, on Monday.  We are not just fighting a virus. We’re fighting for a healthier, safer, cleaner and more sustainable future – WHO chief Tedros “One of them is that health is not a luxury item for those who can afford it… Read More

In a call to Governments everywhere to take greater steps to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the pandemic has exposed the fact too little has been achieved, even though these illnesses account for seven in 10 deaths worldwide. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the coronavirus had “preyed on people” with NCDs, and… Read More